A Pennsylvania prison guard who confiscated a towel blocking a view of an inmate's bunk was attacked and died of his injuries on Monday.

Sgt. Mark Baserman, 61, was punched repeatedly and kicked in the head on February 15 by inmate Paul Jawon Kendrick, who was serving a life sentence for murder at the state prison in Somerset, corrections officials said.

Baserman is the first state correctional officer to be killed by a prisoner in nearly 40 years, officials confirmed.

'The minute we learned of this unprovoked, brutal attack on Sgt. Baserman and another officer who came to his aid our hearts sank,' Corrections Secretary John Wetzel said in a statement.

'We are greatly saddened by Sgt. Baserman's death and our thoughts are with his family at this time.'

This undated photo provided by the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections shows inmate Paul Jawon Kendrick (right), who is accused of fatally assaulting correctional officer Sgt. Mark Baserman (left) on February 15 at a state prison in Somerset, Pennsylvania

Kendrick was arraigned on Monday on assault charges in the alleged attack on Baserman and a second guard.

Officials said Kendrick has been transferred to another prison. He did not have a defense attorney listed in court records.

State police said in an arrest affidavit that the attack, captured on video, began with Kendrick, 22, striking Baserman in the face, and then punching him in the head about 10 times. After he kicked Baserman in the head, the guard was unresponsive.

Kendrick also is accused of striking the other guard several times, rendering him briefly unconscious. The other officer was treated at a hospital, where he died.

The head of the state corrections officers' union called Baserman a hero and urged the prison agency to ban heavy boots.

'These boots are being used as weapons and must be removed immediately,' said Jason Bloom, president of the Pennsylvania State Corrections Officers Association.